10 Commandments - #7

Have you ever turned on a tv and saw a commercial? Ever opened a magazine and saw an ad? Ever been driving down the road and seen a billboard? Chances are you have. And chances are those commercials, ad's and billboards had scantly clad men and women on them.

* And God spoke all these words -Exodus 20:1

* “You shall not commit adultery. -Exodus 20:14

Now I know what you are thinking. Sure I saw that commercial but I didn’t go and sleep with that person. I didn’t commit adultery. Are ya sure? We were warned in Proverbs…

* Do not lust in your heart after her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes. -Proverbs 6:25

Yeah but looking is not adultery. Lust is not the same. Or is it? Jesus tells us in Matthew Chapter 5

* But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. -Matthew 5:28

So are we committing Adultery when we check out a pretty woman or some hot guy? According to Jesus that is exactly what we are doing. With the culture of society today and with the way advertising is and the "Sex Sells" narrative the temptations are all around us. So what do we do? Do we never open a magazine or turn on the tv? Do we lock ourselves in our homes so we never see another billboard? I don’t think that is reasonable.

There are a few things we can do. We can pray for assistance in avoiding these temptations. We can ask God to give us strength and to remove the lustful thoughts from us. We can also make better decisions about what programs we watch, what magazines we read and what music we listen to. It will be impossible to avoid all temptations but with God on our side we can not fail. Make sure you turn to him for help and forgiveness and then…

Press on. Fight the good fight. As a Soldier for Christ.